1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an arrangement for converting a stream of bottles delivered as a multi-track or width stream into a stream of bottles which is to be withdrawn as a single-track stream; an intermediate conveyer is disposed between a feeding mechanism, which is provided with first guide means; and a withdrawal mechanism, which is provided with second guide means; the upper sides or runs of the conveyer belts of the intermediate conveyer form a conversion region, with the conveyer belts being at least partially flush with, and next to, one another, and being in the shape of an inclined plane which is inclined transverse to the direction in which bottles are conveyed from the upper side of the feeding mechanism to the upper side of the withdrawal mechanism, whereby those guide means of the feeding mechanism and of the withdrawal mechanism of the low-lying side of the inclined plane are interconnected.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An arrangement of this general type is disclosed in German Offenlegungsschrift 32 02 991. In this known arrangement, the wide stream of bottles delivered on the multi-track feeding mechanism is converted to a single-track stream of bottles, which is to be withdrawn, under the influence of the intermediate conveyer, which serves as an acceleration section and comprises a plurality of parallel conveyer belts which rotate at varied speeds. The single-track stream of bottles, in turn, passes from the intermediate conveyer onto the single-track withdrawal mechanism, which then feeds the bottles to a bottle handling machine, such as a filling machine or a labeling machine.
In order to effect the conversion in this heretofore known arrangement, the upper sides of the parallel conveyer belts of the feeding mechanism, the intermediate conveyer, and the withdrawal mechanism are offset relative to one another in the conveying direction, and are embodied as an inclined plane which extends transverse to the transport direction of the conveyer belts. At the upper longitudinal side of the intermediate conveyer, upstream relative to the transport direction of its conveyer belts, the introduction of the bottles is diagonally offset relative to the multi-track feeding mechanism, and on the opposite lower longitudinal side of the intermediate conveyer, downstream relative to the transport direction, the bottle withdrawal is offset relative to the single-track withdrawal mechanism. At least in the region of the bottle introduction and of the bottle withdrawal, the transport surfaces of the feeding mechanism and of the withdrawal mechanism have the same slope as do the upper sides of the conveyer belts of the intermediate conveyer, which form the inclined plane, whereby the angle of inclination of the plane which extends transverse to the transport direction is such that the bottles of the wide stream of bottles from the feeding mechanism slide down, under the effect of gravity, from the feeding mechanism, over the intermediate conveyer, to the withdrawal mechanism, without tipping over in doing so. During this downward movement, the bottles are initially supported against one another; as acceleration due to the conveyer belts continues, the bottles are individually supported against a guide rail, the guide surface of which is disposed at right angles to the inclined plane, and extends at an angle over the intermediate conveyer. However, for this purpose it is necessary to have a side guide rail which faces the feeding mechanism, and which connects the guide rail of the feeding mechanism and the remote side guide rail of the withdrawal mechanism. In the transfer regions to the respective side guide rails, the initially mentioned guide rail has respective curves which have different directional paths.
This heretofore known arrangement has the critical drawback that the guide rails for supporting the stream of bottles requires respective curved sections not only in the region of the transfer of the bottles from the feeding mechanism to the intermediate conveyer, but also in the region of the transfer of the bottles from the intermediate conveyer to the single-track withdrawal mechanism; these curved sections form resistances which disturb the stream of bottles. Such a so-called staggered curve forces two changes in direction upon the stream of bottles which are to be supported; at high conveying capacities, only stable bodies can follow these changes in direction. Furthermore, each change in direction effects instability in the stream of bottles, and triggers therein redistributions which lead to the development of greater noise. Aside from the fact that a guide rail produced from the two curved sections is expensive to produce, this forced guidance for converting the wide stream of bottles to a single-track stream of bottles requires a relatively long section for the feeding mechanism and the intermediate conveyer in order to enable the reliable downward guidance of the stream of bottles over the inclined plane. The structural expense and space required for this are further drawbacks of the heretofore known arrangement. Finally, the previously described varied speed of the conveyer belts of the intermediate conveyer requires an increased expense for drive mechanisms and control units.
An object of the present invention is to provide an arrangement of the aforementioned general type which makes it possible, without using force, to convert a wide, multi-track stream of bottles delivered by conveyer belts to a singletrack stream of bottles which is to be withdrawn, with said inventive arrangement eliminating the guide rail which extends from the feeding mechanism over the intermediate conveyer to the withdrawal mechanism and forms a forced guidance, and with said arrangement also reducing the structural expense by having shorter sections than previously provided and also by requiring less space, and also reducing the expense for control mechanisms.